Father's Day 2009

This father's day I was totally on top of it. I picked out gifts long ahead of time, had them wrapped, and even had cards.

Boy was I suprised when Dad Koetje opened his gift and found a piece of garlic bread in a sandwich bag.... Bri had "Packed" it in there so she wouldn't forget it. Oh well, who wouldn't want cold garlic toast with their polo shirt?

Bri also picked out Dad Kooistra's card. She found one of a man fishing and when you tilt the card the man pulls the fish out of the water. She knew it was perfect.

In the evening my folks came over to our house for dinner and the kids played outside. Here are a few shots from the night.

A step back in time

When I was a kid I absolutely LOVED the muppets. Yup. The muppets. Especially Miss Piggy. Tonight I watched "The Muppets Take Manhattan" with my kids.

It was so strange I think it's been more than 2o years since I've seen that movie..and I still remembered much of it! Bri wasn't so sure what she thought - she really did not like Animal. She thought he was a scary monster.

Nate, on the other hand was singing (loudly) and dancing along to all of the songs.

All in all it was wonderful to share something from my childhood with them.

Binder Park Zoo

The weekend of our 6th wedding anniversary we decided to take the kids to Binder Park Zoo. We took them both last year on our actual wedding anniversary. It's always our "joke" that we had a "5 year plan" when we got married and we ended up taking both our kids to the zoo on our 5th wedding anniversary. Now taking them there around that date is becoming a tradition.

This year Nate was still a bit young to handle all of the walking, but he was certainly not willing to sit in a stroller throughout the park. Here is how he checked out most of the exhibits:

In the children's portion of the zoo, they had this fun little activity. Looks like bri is still short of a grasshopper. Nate didn't quite get the concept.

I'm not sure exactly what he was doing here. Taking the giraffe off the wall perhaps?

I think Jeff enjoyed the petting zoo more than the kids.

In fact, he bonded very quickly with this goat.

I may have a slight obsession with taking photos of my kids on statues.

Jeff and Bri walking down the trail into "Africa".

(Note: I am pushing Nate in a stroller over a wooden boardwalk (that curves) with one hand while taking a fantastic picture with the other hand. Am I wonder-woman or what?)

Feeding the giraffes. Neither of the kids was willing to risk being licked, but they sure loved watching it when Jeff and I fed them.

At the end of our trip each of the kids was allowed to pick one stuffed animal from the gift shop. Nate picked a fuzzy zebra. (he also took "eee-eee" with him that day)

Bri picked out a giraffe and named him Purple because the giraffes at the zoo had purple toungues. She also has Polo (The small zebra) with her because that is who she brought home from our trip last year.

What a trip home from the zoo should look like:

Camping with Church July 7-12

In July we went camping with church to Wabasis lake. I believe, at last count, there were 17 kids within our kids' age range. Which meant a lot of chaos, but also a lot of fun.

My kids LOVE s'mores (not that I know too many kids that don't). Somehow, even though they love the taste, they have difficulty keeping all that goodness in their mouths, not on their faces and clothes.

Nate looks like a true camper to me here. Just chillin out in his frog chair.

I think this photo of Benny is adorable... he kind of looks like he's searching for someone lost at sea. The hat and top getup also make me think he's going to pull out a metal detector at any minute and start scanning the beach.Bri is not interested in building castles on the beach. No, she likes to dig holes. I don't know how this started, and I'm not sure I entirely understand it; but one of the most common phrases to be heard from her this summer was "Mommy, look at this big hole!"

Cora, Bri and Quinn playing little people.

(Notice the little row of crocs)

For those of you who have never been camping, cleaning your children is very very difficult. Your options are shower (pain in the neck) or sink (eeeeeewwwwww gross!). Thankfully, Alisha had a brilliant idea and took a handy little swimming pool to fill with soap and water.

I know Nate will kill me for posting this someday, but I just could not help myself. Oh, and I'm not sure who taught Will to put bubbles on his face and say "ho,ho,ho" but it's hilarious!

Nate's ACTUAL Birthday

For Nate's birthday we decided that he was probably too young to appreciate a restaurant, but we let him pick out his dinner. So, we all had pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream. I don't think my kids have ever had that much sugar as a "meal" before in their lives...but hey, how often do you turn 2?

Oh, and because I knew it was going to be a sticky mess, they're topless...

Now that he's two Nate says "cheese" anytime there is a camera around, even if it's not on him. Look how sticky his face is!

Jeff and I got nate a Tee and Bat set for his birthay. Here he is checking it out...
"Back it up, I'm going to hit it out of the park!"

Nate's 2nd Birthday-Part 2

Nates 2nd 2nd Birthday party was at Grandpa and Grandma Kooistra's house. After having a party the day before the kids were totally geeked to do it again.

Here Brianna is showing off her muscle monkey tatoo. Nate and Benny had a bit of trouble staying away from the birthday cake. Benny didn't actually make it to the end of "Happy Birthday". He took out a corner first...
Silly Aunt Jackie... Lions don't go on our foreheads!

Assembling the new train set from Grandma and Grandpa.

Chugga Chugga Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

Brianna's new bling

On my birthday we went out for dinner at Red Robbin and then to the mall to get a new cell phone (Happy Birthday to ME!). As we walked past Claires I tried, once again, to convince Bri of how cool it would be to get her ears pierced. For months I had talked to her about how pretty earrings are, how special it is to have them, yada yada yada. Every time she would say something way too adult, such as "Mommy, someday when I am older I will" or "Mommy, those are for very grown up girls". *sigh*

Then, when we went camping with everyone from church, Bri noticed that Ella has her ears pierced. Suddenly it was looking pretty cool to her. Still, she was unsure. So, when we walked past and she asked to get her ears pierced my jaw nearly hit the ground.

Knowing that time was of the essence (wouldn't want to allow her the opportunity to change her mind) we went right in and went to town.

Bri picked out cute little pink daisies. They look fantastic and she is so proud of herself! We tried to get a few good photos, but ears are surprisingly difficult to photograph (especially on a four year old)